Does this survey from a California city reflect the future of your urban region?
Human behaviour can be described by patterns. Opinion surveys are useful form of collecting patterns. So a city-wide survey of human behaviour from people who live in San Francisco (and have homes) might well capture attitudes, expectations, frustrations and perceptions that will mirror those found now or in the near future where you live.
The city, San Francisco, has a much longer acquaintance with heavy-duty homelessness than most cities. The ‘Summer of Love’ in 1967 caused hundreds of thousands of hippies to flock to what they believed to be a new social experience in that city.
San Francisco is one of the major cities in California, which leads American states in the number of people who experience homelessness. It vies for top billing for having the most unaffordable housing. Could the survey results reported below be a snapshot of where urban centres may wind up if they follow up their homeless/housing crises with similar attempts to mitigate them?
There are certainly some characteristics that seem familiar other locations — a tug of war between homeowners who vociferously resist changes to fix the problem in THEIR neigbourhood.
Then there’s the ‘blame game’ — directing public frustration at the city officials unable to produce a sleight-of-hand miracle. It’s a hardly surprising failure, given that not only the rabbit, but the hat that might produce it, are both missing from any list of acceptable solutions.
How do different demographic groups among the city’s housed residents reflect a city’s solution to an ever-deepening housing and homelessness crisis? Read more in The San Francisco Standard: SF Voters Lose Faith in City’s Homeless Solutions
